Story highlights
Jordan warns that some conservatives may oppose shutdown deal
Jordan was more optimistic about health care
A conservative Republican is warning the White House that a spending deal brokered over the weekend to avert a government shutdown may face resistance from the GOP’s right wing.
“Look, money goes to Planned Parenthood, money continues to go to sanctuary cities, no money for the border wall – I think you will see a lot of conservatives vote against this plan this week,” Rep. Jim Jordan, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said Monday on CNN’s “New Day.”
Jordan expressed frustration with GOP leaders’ decision to settle for a short-term deal that funds the government through September, and which kicks some of the most divisive spending fights down the road.
“Why did we do a short-term spending bill if we were not going to fight for these things we told voters we were going to fight for? I mean, if this is the deal we get, it seems to me we should have just done the bill for the year,” the Ohio Republican said.
“This is not what we campaigned on. I’m disappointed. We’ll see how it plays out this week, but I think you will see conservatives with some concerns about this legislation,” he said. “I wish we would have pushed harder on the issues.”
But while Jordan held a dim view of the spending deal, he sounded much more optimistic about Republicans’ chances to pass a health care reform bill, which has bedeviled the conference despite controlling Congress and the White House.
Jordan said he thinks the House could vote this week on health care legislation still being crafted by the White House and negotiators from Republican leadership, the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and the more moderate Tuesday Group.
“I feel this is a pretty darn good bill that we made better because we engaged in the debate,” Jordan said, referring to the Freedom Caucus’ role in the second round of negotiations, which came after Republicans’ first attempt at an Obamacare repeal collapsed in late March.
Still, Jordan made clear that he viewed the plan as a significant compromise.
“We should be clear – this is not repeal of Obamacare. If it was repeal, you would not need the option for a waiver for states to seek. So, we have to be clear with the voters about that and continue to work on it.”
“What I’m concerned about is Republicans are not doing what we told the American people we would do. We won elections in 2010, 2014 and 2016 on repealing Obamacare,” Jordan said. “This bill doesn’t get all the way there, but it’s a good step, and I think the best step, the best we can get out of the House right now.”
Bipartisan congressional negotiators reached a critical agreement late Sunday on a massive spending bill that if approved by the House and Senate would fund the government through the end of September, senior aides from both parties told CNN.
The plan would add billions for the Pentagon and border security but would not provide any money for President Donald Trump’s promised border wall with Mexico.
The bill has $1.5 billion for border security, including for technology and fixing existing infrastructure but it doesn’t allow the money to spent on building Trump’s wall. There is no money provided for a deportation force and there are no cuts of federal monies to so-called sanctuary cities.